Ukraine born and raised Valerie Martin says her new life in Australia is “a dream come true”.
Ms Martin and her son Tim, 15, will be among 100 Sutherland Shire residents from many parts of the world who will become citizens on Australia Day.
In a departure from previous years, the citizenship ceremony, starting at 10am, will be part of Australia Day celebrations in Cronulla Park, providing an opportunity for more members of the community to attend and show their support.
Ms Martin and Tim, a student at Cronulla High School, came to Australia in July 2017.
After living at Cronulla, they moved to Kurnell two and a half years ago and found the community “very welcoming”.
When Ms Martin walks her dog Asti, a one-year-old male Samoyed, each morning, “I pretty much know everyone I meet along the way,” she said.
“It is really nice to say good morning to every single person.”
Ms Martin said, while she was at high school and university in Ukraine, she was drawn to moving to another country to live.
“The US was the big deal for most of my friends, but my soul was looking for another option, an English-speaking country outside of Europe where I could use my degree in engineering,” she said.
“I didn’t know much about Australia at first, only what I learned in Geography. But, when I did my research and found I had a chance with my degree to come here, it became my dream.”
Further motivation to make a fresh start came from a change in her personal life.
“Australia is everything I hoped for – a dream come true,” she said. “The universe has brought me here.”
Ms Martin works as an engineering draftsperson for a firm of consulting engineers, which she describes as “a dream Job”.
“I decided very quickly – well before the war – to live in Australia permanently, but some things needed to be done before we could gain citizenship,” she said.
Ms Martin said news about the war in Ukraine was very hard emotionally, but most of her family and friends had moved to other countries around the world.
St George and Sutherland Shire Leader reporter covering politics, urban affairs, council, development and general community news. Email: mtrembath@theleader.com.au
St George and Sutherland Shire Leader reporter covering politics, urban affairs, council, development and general community news. Email: mtrembath@theleader.com.au
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